After a three-year hiatus, the NFL supplemental draft will return and take place on July 11. ... and maybe, just maybe, there is another Cris Carter out there?
NFL training camps are scheduled to open about two weeks later, including the Los Angeles Rams, who report for camp on July 25. This draft is for players who were not eligible for April's draft but whose circumstances have since changed.
Currently, there is one prospect but other players could be granted eligibility by the NFL in the near future.
The Hall of Famer Carter is at the top of the list of all-timers in this category. Taken by the Eagles and then claimed off waivers by the Vikings, Carter is the only player selected in the supplemental draft to be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Purdue wide receiver Milton Wright is the lone player eligible as of now. The four-star high school recruit out of Louisville was academically ineligible for the 2022 college season but had a solid season in 2021. A big target, at 6-foot-3, 200 pounds, Wright finished with 57 catches for 732 yards and seven touchdowns for the Boilermakers in 2021.
In the supplemental draft, teams make bids for prospects depending on the round they would pick them in the standard NFL Draft. If the bid is accepted, that team gives up their pick in that round in the following year's draft.
A player is generally in this position for some off-field oddity or issue. (In Wright's case, he was academically ineligible in 2022 and now chooses to turn pro.)
Should the Rams forfeit a pick in next year’s draft - maybe a late-rounder - to add a player in the supplemental draft? Missing an identity (and a lot of players) on offense in last season's 5-12 campaign, L.A. has the third-worst odds to win the NFC West division this season.
One year removed from an incredulously productive season in which receiver Cooper Kupp totaled 2,400 receiving yards on their Super Bowl run, L.A. hopes for a bounce-back season. With some depth in Van Jefferson and Tyler Higbee, the Rams could still be open to adding offensive playmakers for quarterback Matthew Stafford.
There have been standout names who have gone through the supplemental process, with a mixed bag of results, including wide receivers Carter and Josh Gordon, quarterbacks Bernie Kosar, Steve Walsh, and Terrelle Pryor, and current Arizona Cardinals safety Jalen Thompson.
Want even more L.A. Rams news? Check out the SI.com team page here.
More must-reads: